(Photo courtesy of www.worldseriesofpoker.com, which asks for a whopping $69 for an unadulterated download of it).

So far, not so good!

I played two tournaments this weekend: Event #15 of the WSOP ($1,500 No-limit Hold ‘em) and a nice, ~500-person $1,000 buy-in tournament at the Venetian. Alas, no cashes so far. I think I was overexcited to be at the WSOP for the first time in two years, and I didn’t play great. Combine that with not “running” great (poker players’ term for not catching cards at the right time), and I exited both tournaments within the first three hours.

I played too long, too tired in cash games, too, so took hits there.

Lessons learned! I’m getting right back in the saddle and will be in Vegas again in two weeks — well rested and ready.

Testament to the general popularity of poker and the expected attendance at the WSOP this year, the official Web site is down (as of Saturday morning) (click on the thumbnail to see the message).

The other story titillating to me yesterday was about the new Bicycle “PokerPeek” cards the WSOP is using. PokerPages reported on the debacle (their photos below), including Mike Matasow’s immediate blow-up over it! On the front, the layout and orientation of the ranks make them difficult to read, and on the back, the commissioner’s name is misspelled.

You can see how the ranks — featuring non-standard orientation in the corners — would be difficult to read.

Ironically, a lot of thought went into the development of the cards, as the WSOP site reports. Thankfully, the WSOP already has replaced these cards with standard plastic Kem cards.

It’s that glorious time of year again! The World Series of Poker (“WSOP”) starts tomorrow, at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Contrary to common belief among those unfamiliar with the WSOP, it’s not a single poker tournament. Rather, it’s a series of tournaments — 55 this year — culminated by a colloquially “Main” and formally “World Championship” event. The buy-ins (entry fees) range from $500 to $50,000. A complete schedule is on the official WSOP Web site.

I’ve only played in a WSOP event once, in 2005, just 6 months after I started playing poker. I didn’t know what I didn’t know back then. I skipped last year, but this year my poker buddies and I will be returning. I plan to enter at least three of the smaller, $1,500 buy-in no-limit hold ‘em events and then play cash games on the side.

As the tournament proceeds, you can see live coverage on the WSOP site, PokerPages and CardPlayer.com.

Wish us luck!